Love rival killer Leon Borthwick appeals jail sentence

A YOUNG Melbourne man who ran down and killed his love rival is appealing against his non-parole jail sentence, arguing it's too harsh.

Leon Borthwick was 18 when he drove a van onto the wrong side of the road in outer suburban Melbourne, hitting Mark Zimmer in November 2008, leaving the 19-year-old to die from head injuries.

Borthwick was jailed in 2010 for seven and a half years, with a minimum term of five years, after a Victorian Supreme Court jury convicted him of manslaughter by criminal negligence.

Borthwick's barrister Lachlan Carter told the Court of Appeal on Monday that Justice Katharine Williams had erred in imposing her sentence.

He said Justice Williams had stated she would impose a "shorter than usual" minimum term, given Borthwick's age and rehabilitation prospects, but failed to do so.

Mr Carter also said Borthwick had taken many courses while imprisoned, including small business, furniture making and first aid.

Spending too long in prison, he said, would be counterproductive to Borthwick's rehabilitation.

"The fact of the matter is, this now-young man, then very young person, has spent nearly three and a half years in an adult jail," he said.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Williams SC said no error had been made by the sentencing judge, and Borthwick had shown a high degree of criminal negligence by driving at speed, on the wrong side of the road, and into a group of people.